CITY LIBRARIES THAT LEND OUT WI-FI

New York City

New Yorkers with library cards can check out Wi-Fi hotspots powered by Sprint at “lending events” in 11 branches in highneeds areas across the city.

Funded by Google, The Knight Foundation, The Robin Hood Foundation, Open Society Foundations and the library itself, the program allows patrons to check out the devices for up to a year.

Although the devices have been very popular, library hotspot program manager Charity Kittler said it’s only a pilot program and the future remains under discussion. A similar program is run by the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Library, she said.

Chicago

The Chicago program is a two-year pilot that lets patrons check out hotspot devices from seven branches in neighbourhoods identified as having lots of people without home Internet access.

The loans are available for three weeks, and patrons can renew only if somebody isn’t waiting for the item.

The library applied for a grant from the Knight Foundation to help fund the project. Librarians had the same idea at the same time as their sister library in New York City, said Andrea Saenz of the Chicago Public Library. The local Google office also kicked in some funding once it heard about the project, she said.

Kitchener, Ont.

The southwestern Ontario city started its own pilot program, said to be the first in Canada, in October. Mary Chevreau, chief executive officer of the Kitchener Public Library, said the library received a grant from a technology company to fund the pilot, which it hopes to run for a year. It’s hoped future fundraising would allow the program to continue.

There are 20 devices in circulation, available for checkout at the central branch for three weeks on a first-comefirst-served basis with no holds or renewals. “Our experience so far is that these things are extremely popular,” Chevreau said.

Kansas City

The Kansas City Public Library began lending out Wi-Fi hotspots to students and parents in the area school district in 2015. There are 25 devices in the program.

Library spokeswoman Courtney Lewis said the program is funded by Mobile Beacon, an organization that works to provide non-profits with Internet access. The Kansas City library hopes to expand the program with support from other private donors.